Cage

by Rachelle Stevensen

  Bobby and Diana understood his need to leave, but they struggled with his decision.

  They fell in love with both him and Tegan.

  Cage also liked having his best friend close.

  He needed the companionship. It was getting harder and harder every day that he didn’t claim his mate.

  She was almost eighteen and he knew if he didn’t get away from town that day, that he would want to claim her and he was in no way ready to do that.

  When he changed into his monster, he would run through the deep woods,and he would always end up in front of Wren’s house.

  He would climb the tree outside her room and watch her sleep, like a stalker.

  He had to be close to her. It was the only thing that soothed the beast inside him.

  He had tried. Over and over he tried. But he knew he would always end up in the tree outside.

  He didn’t ever look at her while she changed or anything, just watched over her while she slept.

  He never went into her house either, just stayed close enough so that he knew she was safe.

  When they both came of age, he almost broke down and claimed her.

  It was the hardest thing he had ever done, not taking her.

  He had run to the woods and as far from town as he could on her birthday. And as soon as she turned eighteen he had to hold back from running to her house.

  He had brought massive handcuffs and huge chains to try to keep himself cuffed to a tree, but those were no match for his monster’s strength.

  It was the worst night of his life and he had to keep wrestling with his monster to stay human. To stay in the woods and far away from the mate he could smell from all the way in the woods.

  He knew that she struggled with the fact that he pushed her away so he kept his distance, but if she knew why he wouldn’t touch her, look at her or talk to her, who knew what would have happened.

  If he did any of those things, he would break. And claim her.

  He had come close more times than he could count and each time it haunted him.

  He didn’t want her stuck with a monster like him. One that wanted her body, and her blood.

  Each time she had the smallest nick, he had to make sure he left immediately or things would happen.

  Bad things.

  He hated knowing how much he hurt her though. That was worse than not having her.

  Knowing he was the source of her pain and heartbreak.

  He caught her a few times staring at him, and if she knew how much he stared at her it would be comical.

  He was lucky he could read the minds of the teachers. Otherwise he would have failed out of school.

  More than once he would leave the classroom without knowing what was taught.

  He just watched Wren the entire time. Uncaring of the teacher droning on at the front of the classroom.

  Deacon would nudge him when he was in the same class and Cage would have to hold back a snarl.

  He knew why his friend had bugged him, but he wasn’t a fan.

  He still got perfect grades, even if he cheated. Just a little.

  Whatever he had to do. It didn’t matter.

  He knew it was wrong, but he was past caring.

  It wasn’t important. And when they finally graduated, and they found a plot of land that was once a camp for the rich and famous, that had fallen into disrepair and had been forgotten by many.

  They didn’t hesitate to pool their money together and buy it.

  They fixed up their own personal cabins and helped Tegan finish high school and Cage did his best to distance himself from Wren.

  He had to. His obsession was growing worse with each day that passed with her not being his mate.

  With his mark not on her neck and his baby not growing inside her womb.

  It sucked.

  And he suffered every day.

  It was his penance. He chose to push her away and knew he had good reasons, but when he was faced with them, it just didn’t seem to matter.

  He had to keep his guard up though. Had to. If it was the last thing he did, he would keep away from her.

  Chapter Two

  Wren Anders

  Growing up knowing she was going to marry Cage Langston was something she kept to herself, but she knew it deep down in her soul that he was meant for her.

  She didn’t know why she was so drawn to him, but from her first day in kindergarten, she knew he was going to be her best friend.

  She knew everything about him. Who his parents were, that he was an only child and that he lived a little further out of town. Her mom liked his mom a lot and whenever they would pick them up from school, Donna and Helen would talk and talk, while Cage would stand quietly next to his mom, trying to avoid looking at her.

  He had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair, had the thickest lashes that framed those chocolate eyes and had one dimple that would show on the right side of his cheek when he was with his friends.

  He was so cute. His hair was always a little messy and he would come in from recess with a little dirt on his hands, or his face.

  She knew that he was really shy and really quiet and didn’t really talk to many kids in their class, or the teacher much to be honest.

  He just stuck close to his friends and did his work.

  Those were a few examples of how much she loved him. How she knew he was special to her. She didn’t know much about anyone else. They weren’t important to her like Cage was.

  Those were all her favorite things that she loved.

  But her absolute favorite thing about him was that he was kind. To everyone. He would pick up a pencil if it fell, or help a kid that dropped his books and papers all over, when everyone else just walked by.

  He would always help the teacher hand out papers and she even saw him give his dessert to his friends more than once because they liked it better on those days.

  She loved that the most. That he had a heart of gold.

  It hurt her more than words when she found out about his parents and that he had been badly hurt in the fire.

  She had raged and fought to go visit him in the hospital, but her mom hadn’t let her go. Had let her know it wouldn’t have been allowed. That he was in a special unit that couldn’t have outside visitors.

  It broke her heart knowing that he was all alone in the world and she cried each night for him and his loss.

  She wished she could hold his hand and let him know she would always be there for him. Be at his side and never let him feel lonely again.

  She asked daily if her mom knew more about him and would get the same answer until one day they found out he had gotten home from the hospital.

  Wren had taken her tiny allowance and bought him a small present that they had left outside his house and she hoped that he knew she was thinking of him.

  She wrote him a note and left it with the stuffed wolf she had bought, and had kissed gently when she put it down.

  She prayed each day that he would know that he was loved.

  When he got back to school, she saw how badly he was hurt and she hurt for him. The scars were red and his skin was tight and his lips were turned down in one corner.

  She had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom and cry for the pain he had gone through. When she got back, she was determined to never show him weakness or pity. He wouldn’t like it.

  When she heard someone trying to make fun of him? Oh no. That wasn’t allowed and she got right in their face and yelled at them to leave him alone.

  She refused to let anyone hurt Cage again.

  He would give her a tiny smile and she would act like her entire body wasn’t shaking with anger.

  He was still Cage. Still kind and sweet.

  He was different, and some kids were rude to him about his scars and the fact that he couldn’t speak to anyone, but she always stuck up for him.

  He was hers. No one messed with what was hers.

  She watched as he learned to sign to speak and she l
earned right along with him.

  She refused to not be able to speak to him.

  She had to. She couldn’t just have him speak to his friends, she wanted to be part of it too.

  He was shocked the first time she had signed to him.

  His eyes had widened and she grinned. And that was that.

  She would make sure he knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

  He was still shy, but accepted it. And she spent the next few years with him at her side.

  They grew up with the others, but she and Cage always had a special bond.

  She knew it was because she was in love with him, even at a young age.

  And she wished she had the courage to tell him. He was jumpy with things like that.

  She wished he wasn’t. She wanted all of the things with him. To have him be her boyfriend and to have him hold her hand when they walked to class, and to kiss her cheek until they were old enough to really kiss.

  She would blush thinking of his lips on hers. And wished she could feel them.

  He was self conscious of his scars and had signed that to Ryke, not knowing that she was watching and he didn’t like how they pulled some of his mouth down into a vicious looking snarl.

  She hated that he felt that way. And she did her best to let him know he was perfect to her. Even in the smallest ways.

  He still always wore long sleeves and long pants, even in summer, like he couldn’t stand to have anyone look at the scars.

  She knew he had to be dying of heat, but around anyone else, and her, he was always covered.

  She wished he would show her his scars, that he knew they weren’t something to be ashamed of, that he knew that she didn’t care.

  That she never had. But apparently he wanted to give himself heat stroke, rather than let her see his body.

  She did see it once though when she snuck away from her sister one day and followed the boys into the woods.

  They had gone swimming in a small creek there and Cage’s body was something she had never fully seen, but had dreamed of from then on.

  He was all muscles and brawn. His body was thick in his arms with muscle and his stomach was laid with muscle as well.

  She knew he worked out for the football team, but didn’t know it was to this extent.

  It was more than she had ever even imagined, and she had to wipe her face to see if she was drooling.

  He was only sixteen at this point, but damn if he wasn’t the sexiest boy she had ever seen.

  She had hurried back to Ever and hoped that they hadn’t caught her staring.

  Deacon would have teased her about it for weeks.

  Stupid Deacon. Always teasing her when she stared at Cage.

  She couldn’t help it though. He was so incredibly yummy.

  He filled out his shirt and his pants with his muscled self. His sexy, muscled self that she wanted to lick.

  His butt was something of dreams also. The tight bubble of his ass cheeks as he walked was something that made her cheeks flush with heat.

  Watching him walk in front of her in the hallways was her favorite thing.

  Her eyes would stay glued to his ass in his tight blue jeans that were so worn in that he had holes in his knees.

  She loved when he wore those jeans. And his blue hoodie. It brought out something in his brown eyes. A hint of something more.

  He wore his hair shaggy now. He would lift his hand and run his fingers through his hair and shake it away from his face.

  She wasn’t going to lie and pretend like she hadn’t watched him do it over and over and wished it were her fingers instead of his.

  It was her dearest wish. Okay. One of many.

  She took a video of him doing it once. Really sly like, and watched it on repeat. Only when she was alone of course.

  She also had videos of him walking in those jeans, from behind and the front of course, of him playing football with Deacon and Ryke, and him driving in his truck.

  Oh yes. She had a slight obsession with him.

  Slight.

  She said what she said.

  She could get over him. She could. Okay, she couldn’t but it was a thought in her head that if she really wished it to be so it could happen.

  Ever thought she was insane. So Wren kept everything hidden from her.

  She didn’t need to hear her sister tell her every day that it would never happen and that she had to stop her crazy fantasies.

  She was allowed to fantasize all she wanted. And she didn’t care that Ever didn’t like it.

  In her head, Cage was still hers and she was still going to marry him, even if he was being a stubborn, stupid boy.

  She didn’t love that, but damn if she didn’t want to give up on him.

  She watched him when he signed to his friends and his long fingers would fly as he spoke.

  She loved it. And she knew most of the stuff they spoke about. She kept up her signing.

  Even if he didn’t speak to her.

  It was hardest the older they got that he completely ignored her. When they were kids he at least gave her the time of day, but the older they got the more he pushed her away and it broke her heart more each day.

  Her sister felt the same with Ryke. Ryke also used to speak to and be best friends with Ever, until they turned fifteen and then the two boys acted as if the girls had the plague and distanced themselves.

  She knew how much it hurt Ever. Even if Ever didn’t speak of it. Kept her feelings bottled inside and Wren also kept her feelings to herself.

  It seemed easier that way.

  She knew it got harder for her sister and when they turned seventeen and were seniors in high school, it was time for Prom.

  No one asked either sister and Ever had told Wren that she knew Ryke would ask her. Had a feeling it would happen. That he would finally see her.

  It didn’t happen and the girls spent the evening of Prom alone. Eating ice cream in the dresses they bought and sobbing as they watched sad movie after sad movie.

  Ever was so heartbroken that Ryke hadn’t asked her to the prom that she stormed over to his house one night and after she got back, Ever went from bad, to worse in her anger. And Wren wished she knew why.

  But Ever refused to speak of it and didn’t look at Ryke or speak his name for a year. At least.

  Wren had been a little hurt that, -okay, a lot freaking hurt,- that Cage hadn’t asked her, but she didn’t take it to the extreme like Ever had. She still loved Cage.

  Still fantasized about him and wished for more. She didn’t want to give up on him. bit

  She yearned to be in Cage’s big arms, to be held tenderly by them and sway back and forth to a slow song as she rested her head on his chest.

  She had dreams of having him tilt her head up and kiss her.

  She could almost taste his lips. But it was just one more dream to add to the others.

  It was her favorite though. She often would daydream about it.

  Even when she knew better. She didn’t want to give it up. Not ready to get rid of her dreams of him entirely.

  Even if Ever gave her such grief about it, Wren would just hold the dreams closer to her heart and let them stay there, let them be her secret.

  She watched him from afar at school, and she knew she didn’t want to leave him to go to college.

  She was happy to stay in town. To get a job there and she was grateful when her mom asked for help in her office.

  It wasn’t hard to make appointments for buyers and sellers.

  Or for mortgage people to come get papers for different houses and businesses.

  She had been the one to process the paperwork for Ryke, Cage and Deacon when they bought their property on the edge of town.

  Though she doubted they knew that. It didn’t matter, she just loved that she got to be part of it in that tiny way. This huge step the boys took toward their future.

  She had always loved the cabins there and hated that those beautiful cabins had been abandoned by som
eone.

  That they had sat empty for a long time and even though they were supposed to be summer homes and winter homes for certain people that didn’t like that the town was so small.

  So they left it. And the cabins slowly started to fade into disarray.

  She wished someone would buy the property for years, and when Cage and his friends bought it, she was glad it was going to good hands.

  She longed to see what they had done with the property, but for now she was set just dreaming about it.

  Over the years, Cage, Ryke, Deacon and Tegan started up a construction crew. They must have hired a new man, because one showed up with them at the bar.

  He had dark brown hair and a beard, and didn’t talk to anyone. He also seemed to struggle around large crowds.

  After that another man showed up with black hair and bright green eyes. He smiled and talked to everyone in the crew and seemed personable.

  The other man had tawny blonde hair, and amber eyes. He was quiet, but talked with the crew.

  And as they added more men to their construction crew, she wished she could get to know them all. She was so curious, but she didn’t want to push Cage into something he didn’t want.

  He obviously didn’t want her or to be friends with her, so she didn’t want to pry into his life too much.

  Ever on the other hand got angry whenever they went to get a drink and the guys would mysteriously be there.

  Ever hated seeing Ryke’s face everywhere she went, even though Wren knew that Ever was still desperately in love with the stupid asshole.

  Ryke seemed to not want to give Ever the time of day, unless Ever started talking to a man.

  Then Ryke was right there, pulling Ever away from any of the men who tried to talk to her or dance with her.

  And they would end up yelling at each other. Okay, well Ever would yell and Ryke would stand there with a smirk on his stupid face.

  His face wasn’t stupid, but Wren was mad that Ryke had pushed Ever into being hateful.

  Not the sister she grew up with. Ever didn’t smile and laugh as much. Only when it was the two of them, but if Ryke or Cage was mentioned, Ever would clam up and Wren learned to keep those names unsaid.

  Ever had the best personality before whatever happened with Ryke happened, and Wren longed to have her sister tell her why she had changed.